


Talkative

by smarshtastic



Series: McReyes Charity Week [4]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Developing Relationship, Idiots in Love, M/M, Truth Serum
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-07
Updated: 2018-09-07
Packaged: 2019-07-08 04:02:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,085
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15922463
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smarshtastic/pseuds/smarshtastic
Summary: “Oh, he’s talking alright,” Shiga says. There’s a strange sound - is that a giggle? - on the other end.---Gabe gets hit with a truth serum that makes him unusually talkative.





	Talkative

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for [sci](https://twitter.com/scifictioness) for [McReyes Charity Week](https://twitter.com/mcreyes4charity)! Thanks so much to scifor donating to [ECPAT International](http://www.ecpat.org/) \- an amazing organization that works to end the sexual exploitation of children. If you're interested in donating, check out the McReyes Charity Week page for the PDF of all the works that were created for this event! 
> 
> You can find me on [tumblr](wictorwictor.tumblr.com) and [twitter](https://twitter.com/smarshtastic) ♥

The dart comes out of nowhere. Through the sight on his rifle, Jesse sees the projectile connect with Gabe’s neck. The impact is enough to knock Gabe off his feet and the call, when it comes through the comms - “Reyes has been hit!” - is enough to knock the air out of Jesse’s lungs too. Relative chaos erupts on the comms, everyone chiming in at once to check status. From his sniper’s perch, Jesse swings his rifle around to Gabe’s last position. He sees someone running from the scene, looking over his shoulder back at the agents converging on Gabe. Jesse tracks him for another moment before he pulls the trigger. The target goes down. 

“Suspect is in the entrance to the south-western alley,” Jesse says into the comms. “What’s the commander’s status?”

“He’s out cold - vitals are fine,” Valdez responds immediately. Jesse finds her with his sight again, crouching over Gabe, who’s sprawled out in the dust. He swallows around the lump in his throat. He steps into the role of commanding officer seamlessly, like he’s been trained to do, even though right now it feels bad. 

“Get him out of there,” he says. “My squad will move in to collect the target. We’ll rendezvous at the extraction zone.”

Jesse tries to tune the chatter out as he directs his team into position. They can cover the rest of the operation on their own without any issue - there was a reason they built redundancy into this plan, after all - but still: this isn’t how it was supposed to go. 

Jesse tries not to think about it. He has to keep his head in the game, at least for a little while longer. 

The rest of the operation goes smoothly. Blackwatch is the best, even down a commanding officer. Once the target has been secured and loaded up for transport back to the base for debriefing, Jesse finally checks in with the extraction team. 

“Give me a status update on Commander Reyes,” he says into the comms. He gestures to his squad to move out while he falls back to bring up the rear. “Is he awake? Is he talking?”

“Oh, he’s talking alright,” Shiga says. There’s a strange sound - is that a giggle? - on the other end. “Where are you guys?”

“En route back to you,” Jesse says. “Don’t leave without us.”

“Don’t worry. I’m pretty sure the Commander would have something to say about that,” Shiga says. 

“We’ll be there in two minutes,” Jesse says. 

“Roger that,” Shiga says. 

Jesse urges his squad forward, picking up the pace in his anxiety to get to the extraction, to get to Gabe. They make it to the shuttle in record time. Jesse can hear Gabe’s voice even before he steps inside. 

“...wasn’t a good mission from the start. If the UN has been actually interested in stopping the shipments, they would’ve let us run surveillance for a lot longer. Instead they forced my hand and look where it’s gotten us,” Gabe is saying. He’s sitting up in one of the jump seats in the back, back straight, arms folded over his chest and talking more than Jesse’s probably ever heard at once. Valdez is sitting next to him with her scanner in hand looking slightly baffled. “At the very least nobody died. I couldn’t take that, not again… Are there any injuries? Where’s McCree and his squad?”

“Right here,” Jesse says, stepping further into the shuttle and taking his hat off his head. Gabe’s head snaps around to look at him. A big, open smile blooms over his face. It makes Jesse’s heart skip a beat. 

“You’re okay,” Gabe says. Jesse nods and opens his mouth to respond, but Gabe keeps going. “I’m okay too, but Valdez won’t leave me alone. I’m sure you’re going to fuss all night too, huh?”

Jesse hopes the others aren’t paying too much attention to Gabe’s words. His eyes slide sideways to look at them - Shiga is staring openly and Wake is fully turned around in the pilot’s seat. Valdez gives Jesse a look. 

“I’ll leave that to Doc Z, I think,” Jesse says. Gabe makes a face. 

“I’m  _ fine _ . Angela’s just going to stick me with needles and scold me. I’ll sleep it off. Preferably with you,” Gabe says, eyes sparkling as he looks up at Jesse. Jesse can feel the color creeping into his cheeks. Gabe looks at Valdez. “He always fusses when I get even the littlest scratch, but I’m the one with the SEP crap. Jesse gets shot in the gut and pretends like it’s nothing. He almost  _ died  _ and I thought I was going to lose my mind. If I lost Jesse…” Gabe trails off, his voice going emotional. Jesse looks away quickly. 

“Tack, Wake, get us home. Alert medical, too,” he says. The Newtons rev the shuttle’s engines and a moment later the shuttle lifts off the ground. Gabe snorts. 

“I’m fine, I said. Stop fussing, Jesse,” Gabe says. When Jesse turns back to look at him, Gabe reaches out to him. “Come sit? You can see for yourself.”

Jesse moves to sit next to him. Valdez meets Jesse’s eyes as he sits. 

“His readings are normal, more or less, it’s just…” Valdez says, her voice low. 

“I can hear you,” Gabe interrupts. “Everyone needs to stop worrying. It’s gonna take more than one little dart to take me out.”

“We don’t know what it is,” Valdez objects. “We don’t know what it might do.”

“I feel fine,” Gabe says more firmly. He twists in his seat to look at Jesse. He takes Jesse’s hand and gives it a squeeze. His palm is warm and dry, strong and steady. It eases a little bit of the tension in Jesse’s chest. He squeezes his hand back. Gabe smiles. 

“See? All fine. Angela will say the same, just you wait. And then you can come back to my quarters tonight, keep an eye on me yourself. It’s been a long time - we’ve been prepping for this idiotic mission, and I missed having you next to me at night. I sleep better when you’re there, you know,” Gabe says, his face softening. He squeezes Jesse’s hand again. “I like having you close.”

“They can hear you,” Jesse chokes out, his cheeks hot. Valdez clears her throat a little. He’s avoiding looking at Valdez, certain that if he does, the disapproval in her expression will vaporize him on the spot. Gabe cranes his neck to look around the shuttle at the others. 

“I trust them,” Gabe says as he settles back in his chair. “I wouldn’t have any of them on my team if I didn’t trust them. And if they have a problem with us - well. They can kiss my ass.”

“You’re together?” Shiga blurts out. Jesse wonders if there’s an eject button on the seat he’s sitting on. 

“Of course we are,” Gabe says. “What kind of spies are you? You’re all too nosy for your own good and you didn’t realize Jesse and I were together?”

The only sound that fills the shuttle is the sound of the engines. Jesse can’t bring himself to look at anyone. He focuses on Gabe’s hand clasped around his own instead. He can feel everyone’s eyes on him and Gabe. The tips of his ears are burning up. 

“Wait, really?” Edwards asks. Gabe rolls his eyes. 

“Yes really,” Gabe says. “I tried to convince myself I didn’t have a massive crush on Jesse for, hell, years, I guess. And then - god. I remember it like it was yesterday. The Bahrain mission. That mission was fucked up from the start, but Jesse made it work. He saved my life - that shot from a hundred yards? I’ve never seen someone land a shot so perfectly. I knew right then I had to do something. I kissed him in the locker rooms afterwards - it smelled like sweat and dirty socks but - hell. It was the best kiss of my life. Worth every scrape and bruise from that mission, and then some.”

“ _ Bahrain _ ? Jesse, you piece of shit, you said it was a  _ new _ thing,” Shiga says. Jesse finally looks up at him. If he gets any redder, he’s pretty sure he’s going to set his uniform on fire. 

“It is new,” Jesse says. “We’re still - we’re still figuring it out.”

“I think we’ve got all the good parts pretty well figured out, if you know what I mean” Gabe says with a wink. Jesse tries not to implode on the spot. Gabe tugs gently on Jesse’s hand, his expression going more earnest, still smiling that soft smile that makes Jesse go gooey. “I’m happier than I’ve ever been.”

“We’re coming in for a landing,” Wake chirps. Jesse swallows around the lump in his throat. 

“Let’s get you to Angie, Gabe,” Jesse says. He starts to stand up, but Gabe doesn’t let go of his hand. Jesse hesitates a moment, looking pointedly down at their clasped hands. Gabe stands and slings an arm around Jesse’s shoulders, leaning into him heavily, his breath warm against Jesse’s ear. 

“This better?” Gabe asks, his voice going low and husky. 

“Just - maybe don’t say anything on our way to medical, alright?”

“Why not?” Gabe says as they step out of the shuttle. He leans more heavily into Jesse, who slips his arm around Gabe’s waist to better support him. “You’re so strong. You could probably carry me, huh? God. I’ve never been with someone who could do that. It’s so hot.”

Jesse makes a little noise. “That - that’s what I’m talking about. Not everyone needs to know that.”

“Yes they do,” Gabe protests. “I mean, if they don’t know how hot you are already, well, then they’re blind. But you chose me.” Gabe puffs out his chest a little. “I got lucky there, didn’t I? Out of everyone, you chose me.”

“I’m beginning to wonder if I ain’t made a mistake,” Jesse says distractedly, eyes darting left and right to scan for anyone within earshot. He feels Gabe go tense then sag in his arms. Jesse looks at him quickly, worried that something is going wrong with whatever dosed Gabe - instead, he finds Gabe looking crestfallen. Jesse quickly amends, “I didn’t mean it like that.”

Gabe doesn’t say anything for a few moments. After so many words from him, the sudden silence is more disquieting. 

“I really like you, Gabe,” Jesse says, keeping his voice low as they step into the medical wing. “I do.”

“You do?”

“Yeah, Gabe. I thought that was obvious.”

“Well, I mean, we’re spies,” Gabe says. “We’re good at pretending. And maybe - I don’t know. I was afraid maybe I liked you more than you liked me and -”

Behind them, Angela clears her throat. Jesse pales, wondering how much she’s heard. The Blackwatch strike team knowing about Gabe and Jesse’s relationship is one thing - but Jesse’s a little fuzzier on the protocols outside of Blackwatch. Does Overwatch have fraternization rules? 

“I can take it from here, Jesse,” Angela says. “Agent Valdez sent her report ahead.”

“Oh, but -” Gabe starts to say, but Jesse is already gently detangling himself from Gabe’s arms. 

“I’ll come back to check on you in a little bit,” Jesse promises. “But you had to go and get yourself compromised, so now I gotta do all the commanding officer duties.”

“And I’m missing it,” Gabe says, practically pouting. He looks at Angela. “Jesse’s so good when he’s in charge. I love when he goes all competent and bossy. It’s a good look on him.”

Jesse flushes dark again. “Keep an eye on him, won’t you?” he says to Angela. She nods. 

“Not to worry, Jesse,” she says. 

“Angela’s the best,” Gabe says. “Don’t worry about me, Jesse.”

Jesse forces a little smile. He scurries out of the medical wing before Gabe can say anything else. 

It takes a lot longer to clean up the mission reports and tie up all their loose ends than Jesse expected. There’s the target to deal with, too, which Jesse assigns to Edwards and Prithi. All in all, in spite of the unexpected messiness, it was a successful mission. Jesse can rest easy about that, at the very least. 

By the time Jesse makes his way back to the medical wing, it’s late. The mission work had been a good distraction from Jesse’s anxiety about Gabe, about the things Gabe had been saying, right out in the open for all to hear. The anxious feeling settles back on Jesse’s chest like a weight as he gets nearer to the medical wing. 

The thing is, Jesse  _ does  _ like Gabe a lot. He had a crush on Gabe for ages, even when Jesse was with other people - Gabe just never felt like a realistic prospect for him. Jesse had kissed him, once or twice, but it was always after a couple of drinks, or the heat of the moment got the better of Jesse’s judgment, and nothing ever came of it. Jesse figured Gabe wasn’t interested in him that way. And then Gabe kissed him in the locker rooms after the mission in Bahrain and the thing between them became real. 

They were still figuring it out, though, taking it slow as they figured out how they could make a relationship work in spite of their day (and night) jobs. If Jesse was being honest with himself, it worked much better than he could’ve ever hoped. Like it was too good to be true. This whole time, Jesse’s been waiting for the other shoe to drop, holding his breath, holding himself back, waiting for something to come along and blow up the whole damn thing. 

Instead, Jesse got this - this exaggerated,  _ chatty _ version of Gabe that said things out loud that Jesse was wholly unprepared for. Jesse’s still skeptical, though; it can’t be real. 

Can it?

The patient rooms are dark as Jesse walks down the hall. The sound of sharp footsteps behind him makes Jesse pause and turn towards the sound. Angela gives Jesse a smile, holding a tablet clutched to her chest. 

“I thought I might see you back here,” she says. 

“I did promise,” Jesse says. A smile plays around Angela’s lips. 

“Commander Reyes is resting in the room at the end of the hall. I’d like to keep him for the night, for observation, but it looks like the drug will work its way out of his system naturally, with no ill effects,” Angela says. 

“What was it?” Jesse asks. Angela tries, and fails, to keep herself from smiling wider. 

“A truth serum, to over-simplify,” she says. “It functions by lowering the inhibitions. Commander Reyes was chattier than normal, wasn’t he?”

Jesse feels the color returning to his cheeks. He scrubs a hand through his hair.  

“Listen, Angie, just forget whatever you heard -”

“He spoke so fondly of you, Jesse,” Angela says, her expression softening. “Are you two…?”

“What, together?” Jesse says. He lets his breath out. “Yeah. We are. But, look, we’re not looking to cause any problems -”

“Of course not,” she says, then holds the tablet out to Jesse. He doesn’t take it immediately, looking down at it, perplexed. 

“Human Resources paperwork,” she says by way of explanation. “The only people who would know are your direct supervisors - and, well, me, but I’ve an oath to uphold, as your doctor.”

“Paperwork,” Jesse repeats. He finally takes the tablet from her and scans the page on the screen. 

“It’s a formality,” Angela says. “You ought to talk it through with Gabriel, though. It needs both of your signatures, and an impartial witness.”

“Right,” Jesse says, still looking down at the tablet. 

“You don’t have to decide anything right now,” Angela says, her voice going gentle. “Gabriel might be sleeping, but you’re welcome to check on him.”

“The end of the hall, yeah,” Jesse says. He looks up finally, tucking the tablet under his arm. “Thanks, Angie.”

“I’ll be in my office if you need anything,” she says. Jesse nods. She turns and walks back down the hall, her heels clicking on the tile as she goes. Jesse moves to Gabe’s room. 

The room is dim and quiet, the computers monitoring Gabe’s vitals muted for the night. Jesse can see the steady flashing light that’s tracking Gabe’s pulse, a soft green light. Gabe is asleep. His face looks smooth, relaxed - more than Jesse’s ever remembered seeing it. He looks peaceful. Carefully, quietly, so as not to disturb him, Jesse moves around the side of the bed to take a seat in the chair next to the monitor. For all his care, the movement still manages to wake Gabe up. 

“Mm - Jesse? That you?”

“Hey,” Jesse says softly. “You’re supposed to be sleeping.”

Gabe reaches a hand out. Jesse sets the tablet on the small table beside the bed before he takes Gabe’s hand in both of his own. 

“I was worried you weren’t going to come back, after all those things I said,” Gabe says, his voice quiet. Jesse tightens his hands around Gabe’s.

“You remember that, huh?”

“Angela said it was a truth serum, not an amnesia serum, unfortunately,” Gabe says with a rueful little smile. 

“Nothing unfortunate about it,” Jesse says. Gabe tilts his head up to look at Jesse properly. His fingers move in Jesse’s hands. 

“I said a lot. In front of a lot of people,” Gabe says. 

“Well,” Jesse says. “Like you said. What kind of spies are they if they didn’t know already, right?”

Gabe snorts. Jesse looks down at their hands. 

“So you’re not mad?” Gabe asks. Jesse shakes his head. 

“Nah,” he says. “Though it looks like we’ve got some paperwork to fill out.”

Jesse laces his fingers with Gabe’s hand and reaches with the other one to grab the tablet off the table. He shows the screen to him. Gabe’s brow knits together. 

“HR paperwork, Angie said,” Jesse says. “Make it all above board. Make it… official.

Gabe’s head jerks up, his eyes landing on Jesse’s face. Jesse can see his adam’s apple bob as he swallows. 

“You want that?” Gabe asks. Jesse nods. 

“Yeah, Gabe, I do,” Jesse says softly. Gabe bites his lip, but he’s smiling. He tugs on Jesse’s hand bringing him down so that he can kiss him. Jesse lets his eyes close as he kisses Gabe back, his heart soaring. 

“So where do I sign?” Gabe asks when he finally pulls away. Jesse laughs. He kisses him again. 


End file.
